According to a new report published by the Mozilla Foundation, an American non-profit organization, automobile manufacturers are collecting vast quantities of data on drivers and passengers, with some even tracking drivers’—and passengers’— sexual activity.

Mozilla reviewed 25 automotive brands amongst 15 car companies. The results could be shocking to many. German manufacturer Volkswagen said it could record drivers’ voices to profile them for targeted ads. More than half of the brands said they can share data with government and law enforcement when requested, without receiving a court order. Moreover, the report stated that Subaru insisted the very fact of being a passenger in one of its cars implies consent to its privacy policy!

Japanese car manufacturer Nissan even said it could sell information about drivers and passengers’ sexual activity, intelligence, and health diagnosis to data brokers, law enforcement agencies, and other companies.

Jen Caltrider, lead researcher at Mozilla Foundation (incidentally, the nonprofit owner of the company running the Firefox Browser), said:

The amount of data that these car companies blatantly said that they could collect was shocking. It’s like nobody’s ever challenged them or asked them questions about privacy, and so they just include everything.

(The same could be said about government.)

It’s a good thing the technology that allows corporations and governments to thoroughly spy on us through our vehicles didn’t exist in the days of the drive-in-theater.

And it’s too bad it does now.

America, and cars, both used to symbolize freedom and independence.

Those days are fading away, now…like the taillights of a Mustang or Camaro heading down Route 66 after dark.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.